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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28118670">Holiday Lights and Displays</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonace/pseuds/moonace'>moonace</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, JATP, i dont know how to write a 10 year old</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:40:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>781</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28118670</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonace/pseuds/moonace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie wants the boys to join a Molina Christmas tradition, but not everyone has the holiday spirit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Holiday Lights and Displays</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Day 1 prompt for @sonsetcurve's (tumblr) JATP Holiday Event!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Woah look at that house!” Reggie’s face was pressed up against the car window, eyes glimmering with the reflection of Christmas lights. Julie couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the boys squished into the back seat of the van. Luke was glancing back and forth from the window to the paper in his hand, clearly drawing inspiration from the winter scene for a new song. Reggie was enamored by the festive displays of each house they drove by, pointing out every little thing he saw. And poor Alex was squeezed between the two, watching Luke’s illegible scribbling. Julie wishes she could take a picture. </p>
<p>When her dad had suggested driving around to look at Christmas lights, Julie thought it would be the perfect chance to bring the boys into a Molina family tradition without raising anyone’s suspicion. And they were loving it. </p>
<p>Carlos, however, was not. </p>
<p>He hadn’t looked away from his lap since they got in the car. Ray glanced at Carlos in the rear view mirror. </p>
<p>“Hey mijo, que está mal? You haven’t looked at a single house in this neighborhood. There have been some pretty cool light displays!”</p>
<p>“It’s not the same without mom.” Suddenly the mood in the car dropped. Luke and Alex looked up from the notebook, and Reggie finally peeled his eyes away from the glass. </p>
<p>Alex was the first to break the silence. Well at least for Julie; to Carlos and Ray it was still solemnly quiet. “What does he mean?”</p>
<p>Julie thought for a moment, and then typed a message on her phone, discreetly titling it so that the ghosts in the backseat could read it. Driving around to look at Christmas lights was Carlos favorite holiday tradition. He and mom would rate each house‘s decorations.</p>
<p>“Oh.” The boys looked around avoiding staring at any of the Molinas. They always got awkward when Julie’s mom was brought up. Reggie peeked his head around the back of Carlos’s chair and stared at the kid for a while. Then his face became serious- well, serious for Reggie. </p>
<p>“We gotta fix this,” Reggie said gesturing towards Carlos before poofing out. Alex slid over to where Reggie had been sitting and started scanning outside. </p>
<p>Luke sat up straight, eyes darting around the car. “Where did he go?” </p>
<p>“Um, Julie? You might want to look out this side.” Julie adjusted how she was sitting to get a good look at what Alex was pointing at. A smile spread across her face, and she shook her head slightly, chuckling. </p>
<p>“Hey,” Julie bumped her little brother’s arm, “I think you’re going to want to see this.” </p>
<p>Carlos seemed confused but looked out the window anyway. In front of every house in the neighborhood was a sign with a brief message and a score (“Rad lights! 6/10”, “Moving reindeer! 8/10”, “Pink Tree! 7/10 for Alex ;)”, etc.). His eyes lit up almost as much as the lights outside. Carlos began giving his own scores.</p>
<p>“No way is that house a 5! It’s at least a 7!”</p>
<p>Suddenly Reggie poofed back into the backseat. “Hey why am I in the middle now?”</p>
<p>“You left,” Alex shrugged.</p>
<p>“Whatever. I need you guys’s help, c’mon!” Without hesitation the three boys poofed out before Julie could ask what they were up to now. Before the car had even pulled into the driveway, however, she could see. The boys had somehow added several more Christmas decorations to their yard; a plastic Santa, three light-up reindeer, even more lights on the bushes, and lots of others. In the very front of the lawn was a big sign reading “10/10! Oh and the lights are cool too ;)”.</p>
<p>Carlos couldn’t get out of the car fast enough. “Woah! Dad, look! We got a 10! I wonder who’s scored us? Look at that!” Carlos ran across the yard taking pictures of everything. “Where did all this stuff come from?” </p>
<p>Julie walked over to where the boys stood, arms around each other, admiring their work. “Yeah, where did all of this stuff come from?” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a playful scolding smile. </p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it,” Luke said, flashing his own mischievous grin back at her. Reggie stepped out from under Luke’s arm and extended his hands towards their masterpiece. </p>
<p>“Whaddya think?”</p>
<p>“It looks great Reggie!” She watched Carlos take a selfie with the sign, then turned back to her ghosts. “Thank you for doing this for him.”</p>
<p>“Anything for my new little bro!” The words were silly, but Julie knew he was being sincere in his own Reggie-way. </p>
<p>“Now put the reindeer back before someone calls the cops on us!”</p>
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